The Politics of Herodias’ Marriages

18.109–111

Around this time, Aretas (the king of Arabia Petres) and Herod [II] had a quarrel on account of the following: Herod the tetrarch [Antipas] had married the daughter of Aretas and had lived with her for a long time, but once, when he was in Rome, he lodged with Herod II, who was his half brother, not born to the same mother, for this Herod was the son of the high priest Simon’s daughter. He fell in love with his wife Herodias, who was the daughter of their brother Aristobulus and the sister of Agrippa the Great. This man boldly ventured to talk to her about a marriage between them, which she accepted, and an agreement was made for her to move and come to him as soon as he returned from Rome. One condition of this marriage was that he divorce Aretas’ daughter. After making this agreement, Antipas sailed to Rome. But when he returned from conducting his business there, his wife, who had discovered the agreement he had made with Herodias before he realized that she was aware of it, asked him to send her away to Machaerus, which is a place bordering the dominions of Aretas and Herod, without informing him of any of her intentions. [ . . . ]

18.136–138

But their sister Herodias was married to Herod [II], the son of Herod the Great and Mariamme, the daughter of Simon the high priest, and she had a daughter named Salome. After her birth, Herodias took it upon herself to defy the laws of our nation and divorced herself from her husband, marrying Herod [Antipas], her husband’s brother by the father’s side, while her first husband was still alive. [Herod Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee, but her daughter Salome was married to Philip, the son of Herod [the Great], who was tetrarch of Trachonitis. As he died childless, Aristobulus, the son of Herod [of Chalcis], the brother of Agrippa, married her. They had three sons: Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus. This was the family line of Phasael and Salampsio. [ . . . ]

18.147–149

For these reasons, Agrippa [brother of Herodias] went away from Rome and sailed to Judaea. But he was in a dismal state, dejected over his loss of money and the fact that he had no means by which to pay his creditors, who were numerous and allowed him no way of escaping them. He had no idea what to do, so, ashamed of his present situation, he retired to a certain tower, at Malatha, in Idumaea, and entertained thoughts of killing himself. But his wife Cypros perceived his intentions and tried all sorts of methods to divert him from taking such action. She sent a letter to his sister Herodias, who was now the wife of Herod the tetrarch, and informed her of Agrippa’s present plan and the necessity that had driven him to this point, asking her, as a close relative of his, to give him her help and to enlist her husband to do the same, since she saw that she had alleviated her husband’s troubles all she could, even though she did not have the wealth to do so. [ . . . ]

18.240–256

But Herodias, Agrippa’s sister, who now lived as wife to that Herod who was tetrarch of Galilee and Peres, envied this authority of her brother, particularly when she saw that he had achieved far greater honor than her husband, since when Agrippa ran away it was because he was not able to pay his debts, and now he had come back with dignity and with such great wealth. She was therefore grieved and quite displeased over so great a reversal of his affairs, especially when she saw him marching among the masses with the customary ensigns of royal authority, as she was [then] unable to conceal how miserable she was on account of the envy she had toward him. But she stirred up her husband and urged him to set sail to Rome to seek honors equal to Agrippa’s, for she said that she could not bear to live any longer while Agrippa—the son of that Aristobulus who was condemned to die by his father—who had come to her husband in such extreme poverty that all the necessities of life had to be supplied to him daily, after fleeing from his creditors by sea now returned a king, while Herod himself was the son of a king, and though the near relation he had to royal authority called on him to gain the same honor, sat still and was content living a private life. “But Herod,” she said, “even if you were not upset in the past about being in a lower condition than your father from whom you were born, at least now strive after the honor that your family has attained and do not accept this disgrace, that a man who admired your riches should enjoy greater honor than you. Do not allow his poverty to prove itself able to purchase greater things than our abundance, or judge it anything other than shameful to be inferior to one who just the other day was dependent on your charity. Let us go to Rome, and let us spare no pains nor expenses, either of silver or gold, since they cannot be kept for any better use than for obtaining a kingdom.”

As for Herod, he opposed her request for a time, because he preferred to be at ease and because he suspected that he would encounter trouble in Rome, so he tried to change her mind. But the more she saw him withdrawing, the more she insisted that he do it, and she urged him to leave no stone unturned in order to be king. She did not give up until she compelled him to take her side, whether he wanted to or not, because he could not avoid her persistence any other way. So he got everything ready, as lavishly as he could, sparing no expense, and set sail for Rome, taking Herodias along with him. But Agrippa, when he became aware of their intentions and preparations, also prepared to go there. As soon as he heard them set sail, he sent Fortunatus, one of his freedmen, to Rome to bring gifts to the emperor along with letters against Herod, and he instructed him to give Gaius a detailed account of these matters if he had the opportunity. [ . . . ]

So he [Gaius] took his tetrarchy away and added it to Agrippa’s kingdom. He also gave Herod’s money to Agrippa, and, by way of punishment, condemned Herod to perpetual banishment and designated Lyons, a city in Gaul, to be his residence. But when he was informed that Herodias was Agrippa’s sister, he made her a present of the money that was hers and told her that it was her brother who had prevented her from being given the same punishment as her husband. She replied: “O emperor, your offer is generous, as befits your office, but my devotion to my husband prevents me from accepting your gift. For it is not fair that I, who have been made a partner in his prosperity, should forsake him in his misfortune.” Then Gaius became angry at her and banished her along with Herod, giving her estate to Agrippa. In this way, God punished Herodias for her envy of her brother and Herod for listening to the foolish speech of a woman.